Stora Enso lifted Q3 adjusted EBIT 28% to EUR 161 million on higher board deliveries as its forest demerger advanced

How Stora Enso's packaging businesses report

Stora Enso changed its reporting from 1 January 2026. It now shows three packaging and fibre segments and an “Other” segment, and the former Packaging Materials, Wood Products and Forest segments are no longer reported separately, the full report says².

Consumer Packaging makes the folding boxboard, solid bleached board and liquid packaging board that converters print and cut into cartons for food, drinks, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Its newest asset is the consumer board line at Oulu in Finland, whose ramp-up the company expects to complete during 2027.

Integrated Packaging combines two business areas: Containerboard, which sells the liner and fluting used to make corrugated board, and Packaging Solutions, which makes the corrugated boxes themselves. A box buyer in Finland, Poland or the Baltics may therefore buy from a Stora Enso box plant that takes board from a Stora Enso mill.

Biomaterials sells market pulp, including eucalyptus pulp, and lignin-based products. Other holds the Wood and Energy business area, group functions, the Swedish forest assets, the Growth business unit and the Central European wood products operations, according to the report.

The company reports adjusted EBIT, which removes items affecting comparability such as restructuring and disposal losses, and fair valuation changes in forest assets. The gap between that measure and the IFRS operating result was wide in this quarter, which is why the two lines tell different stories.

The CEO’s comment set the market tone in one sentence.

What Stora Enso reported on 30 October

Sales. Group sales fell 2% to EUR 2,240 million from EUR 2,283 million. The report says reported sales decreased due to the divestment of corrugated board units in Germany, while organic sales increased by 2%, driven by higher deliveries in Consumer Packaging and Integrated Packaging². Against the second quarter’s EUR 2,423 million, sales fell 7.6%, by SPI’s calculation.

Adjusted profit. Adjusted EBITDA rose 10.2% to EUR 320 million from EUR 291 million, a margin of 14.3% against 12.7%. Adjusted EBIT rose to EUR 161 million from EUR 126 million, and edged above the second quarter’s EUR 160 million despite heavy planned maintenance in the quarter.

The bridge. The report says higher volumes in Consumer Packaging and Integrated Packaging supported profitability by EUR 31 million. Lower variable costs added EUR 40 million and fixed costs EUR 2 million, while prices and mix took EUR 12 million, currency EUR 8 million and depreciation and other items EUR 18 million².

Reported profit. The IFRS operating result fell to EUR 47 million from EUR 231 million. It includes items affecting comparability of minus EUR 63 million, against plus EUR 117 million a year earlier, and fair valuations and non-operational items of minus EUR 51 million against minus EUR 11 million. Earnings per share were EUR 0.01 against EUR 0.25, or EUR 0.06 against EUR 0.26 excluding fair valuations.

Cash and debt. Cash flow from operations rose to EUR 245 million from EUR 223 million, and cash flow after investing activities to EUR 132 million from EUR 57 million. Net debt fell to EUR 2,534 million from EUR 3,215 million a year earlier, and to 2.1 times last-twelve-month adjusted EBITDA from 2.7 times¹.

Costs. The CEO said the margin held despite outside pressure.

That is the company’s own description of its cost drivers. The segment text links higher logistics and chemicals costs in Consumer Packaging, and higher variable costs in Integrated Packaging, to the same conflict².

Nine months. For January to September 2026, sales were EUR 7,021 million against EUR 7,072 million and adjusted EBIT EUR 479 million against EUR 427 million, a margin of 6.8% against 6.0%. Cash flow from operations was EUR 457 million against EUR 560 million.

Stora Enso's segments line by line

Consumer Packaging. Sales rose 2.3% to EUR 967 million from EUR 945 million, and adjusted EBIT rose EUR 26 million to EUR 80 million, a margin of 8.3% against 5.7%. The report credits the Oulu ramp-up, better board volumes, lower wood costs and the company’s own savings, partly offset by higher logistics and chemicals costs linked to the conflict in Iran. It describes demand for European consumer board grades as mixed, with stronger deliveries for certain products².

The CEO’s comment called it another strong quarter for the segment, citing increased deliveries, good operational execution and continued progress in Oulu. Against the second quarter, segment adjusted EBIT rose from EUR 64 million, while sales eased from EUR 985 million.

Integrated Packaging. Sales rose 1.5% to EUR 592 million from EUR 584 million, on higher containerboard deliveries and prices, partly offset by lower corrugated deliveries after the German divestment. Adjusted EBIT rose EUR 25 million to EUR 16 million from a loss of EUR 9 million, a margin of 2.7% against minus 1.5%, mainly due to higher sales prices and volumes in containerboard, the report says.

In corrugated packaging, the report says the focus is on protecting and improving margins through price increases. Against the second quarter, though, segment adjusted EBIT fell from EUR 29 million and the margin from 4.9%, and corrugated deliveries fell to 281 million square metres from 315 million.

Biomaterials. Sales rose 3.6% to EUR 371 million and adjusted EBIT EUR 14 million to EUR 52 million, a margin of 14.0%, mainly on higher eucalyptus pulp prices. Market pulp deliveries fell 4.5% to 455,000 tonnes, and the quarter included planned maintenance at Skutskär.

Other. Sales fell 16.2% to EUR 493 million and adjusted EBIT to EUR 13 million from EUR 44 million, a margin the report prints as 2.7% against 7.4%. This segment holds the Swedish forest assets that Stora Enso plans to separate.

SPI calculation (where the margin came from): the bridge gives EUR 71 million of gains from volumes and lower variable costs, and EUR 2 million from fixed costs. Prices and mix, currency and other items took EUR 38 million, leaving the net rise of EUR 35 million. Price was therefore not the driver at group level, even though containerboard and pulp prices rose.

What changed in Finland and Sweden

Bergslagets Skogar. The release, titled “Introducing Bergslagets Skogar while building a stronger Stora Enso”, says the board approved a demerger plan in October for the separation of the Swedish forest assets business into a new publicly listed company. The separation is expected during the first half of 2027, and an extraordinary general meeting is expected on 15 December 2026, according to the full report².

The report states the fair value of the forest assets was EUR 8.4 billion, against EUR 8.3 billion, equivalent to EUR 10.66 per share. That figure covers the group’s forest assets; the report gives no separate value for Bergslagets Skogar, its share ratio for shareholders or its listing venue. The company plans a Capital Markets Day for Bergslagets Skogar in Stockholm on 3 November 2026.

Finnish corrugated. Stora Enso plans to centralise its corrugated packaging production in Finland at Lahti and close the Kristiinankaupunki site. The report gives no timing or job figure for the change.

Wood products. The Veitsiluoto sawmill in Kemi, Finland, was permanently closed, and the cross laminated timber unit at Gruvön, Sweden, will close by the end of 2026. A strategic review of the Central European sawmills and building solutions operations continues, the release says.

Other moves. Stora Enso reduced its ownership in a Swedish wood supply company and announced a partnership in October with Shanshan Technology to develop lignin-based battery materials.

One-off costs. The items affecting comparability of minus EUR 63 million split into minus EUR 37 million in Consumer Packaging, including restructuring-related impairments of EUR 19 million mostly in Finland and Sweden, minus EUR 14 million in Integrated Packaging, mainly disposal losses of EUR 12 million, minus EUR 1 million in Biomaterials and minus EUR 11 million in Other. Of the last, EUR 9 million related to acquisitions and disposals, mostly the potential demerger of the Swedish forest assets.

Who gains and who pays after Stora Enso's third quarter

Containerboard customers. Box makers buying Stora Enso liner pay more. The report says virgin containerboard demand improved together with price increases, and Integrated Packaging’s EUR 25 million swing came mainly from containerboard prices and volumes².

Corrugated box buyers in Finland. Customers of the Kristiinankaupunki plant face a move of supply to Lahti, and the report says corrugated margins are to be protected through price increases. Buyers should ask for transfer dates and any change in lead times.

Carton buyers. Brand owners buying folding cartons and liquid packaging from converters supplied by Stora Enso face a fourth quarter of heavy mill maintenance, rising energy and chemicals costs and wood costs up somewhat. Oulu adds capacity, which gives buyers some supply cover through the maintenance season.

Pulp buyers. Tissue and paper makers buying eucalyptus pulp paid more: Biomaterials’ gain came mainly from higher prices, on 4.5% lower deliveries.

Stora Enso. The company gained from volume and lower variable costs, with adjusted EBIT up EUR 35 million. Its IFRS operating result fell EUR 184 million, by SPI’s calculation, on restructuring, disposal losses and fair valuations.

Finnish and Swedish sites. Restructuring-related impairments of EUR 19 million sat mostly in Finland and Sweden, the report says, alongside the closures at Veitsiluoto and Gruvön.

The pinch point: costs turning while maintenance peaks

The third quarter’s margin rested on lower variable costs, worth EUR 40 million in the bridge, and higher volumes, worth EUR 31 million. The outlook says both reverse in part in the fourth quarter: variable costs are expected to rise, wood costs to increase somewhat, and Consumer Packaging volumes to fall during annual maintenance².

Emission rights add a further gap. Income of EUR 10 million to EUR 20 million in 2026 compares with about EUR 72 million in 2025, which the report says was spread evenly through that year, so 2026 carries EUR 52 million to EUR 62 million less, by SPI’s calculation.

Prices are the remaining lever. The bridge shows prices and mix were a net minus EUR 12 million in the third quarter, and the outlook expects an adverse price and mix effect in Consumer Packaging from a lower share of consumer board volumes. Integrated Packaging has positive price momentum, but it earned EUR 16 million, against EUR 80 million in Consumer Packaging.

How Stora Enso compares with Smurfit Westrock and International Paper

Three groups with European box operations reported within three days. Smurfit Westrock and International Paper released their third-quarter results on 28 October in US dollars, and Stora Enso on 30 October in euros, so their figures are not comparable and are not set side by side here.

Smurfit Westrock’s release cut its full-year EBITDA estimate and said price increases across most paper grades should more than offset higher freight and energy costs, with full benefits into 2027, as SPI’s Smurfit Westrock story reported⁷. Stora Enso’s report also points to price increases in containerboard and corrugated, and to rising energy and logistics costs.

International Paper’s EMEA box business remained loss-making at operating level and took a goodwill impairment, while IP prepares to list it in London as DS Smith plc, according to SPI’s International Paper story⁸. Its Capital Markets Day for that business falls on 3 November, the same day as Stora Enso’s Bergslagets Skogar event.

SCA, which reports in Swedish kronor, said on 23 October that further kraftliner price increases were implemented in the third quarter, as SPI’s SCA story reported⁹. By SPI’s reading, all four groups describe containerboard pricing moving up in the quarter, while costs tied to energy and logistics are rising.

What the PPWR means for board and box specifications

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has applied since 12 August 2026, under SPI Regulation Tracker record PR-EU-001³. Its rules shape the board grades and box formats that Stora Enso’s customers will specify, though none changes the third-quarter figures.

Under record PR-EU-010, all packaging placed on the market must be recyclable, and design-for-recycling grades A, B and C apply from 1 January 2030 at the earliest, or 24 months after the delegated acts enter into force if later⁴. Plain fibre board faces fewer open questions than barrier-coated or laminated cartons, and SPI has not yet confirmed how the delegated acts will grade coated consumer board.

Under record PR-EU-009, grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging must keep empty space at or below 50% from 2030⁵. Right-sized corrugated boxes use less board per shipment, which matters more when containerboard prices are rising.